Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,020,000 shares, a decline of 9.7% from the October 15th total of 1,130,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 437,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ashland news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Ashland by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 657,010 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,973,000 after purchasing an additional 26,245 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland during the second quarter worth approximately $713,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Ashland by 33.0% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 429,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,727,000 after acquiring an additional 106,417 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Ashland by 242.5% in the first quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 13,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 9,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ashland during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,442,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ashland has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.57.

Ashland Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of ASH stock traded down $1.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $75.71. The company had a trading volume of 14,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 420,592. Ashland has a fifty-two week low of $75.54 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company’s fifty day moving average is $84.82 and its 200 day moving average is $90.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.07 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.36%.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.